714 



REPOKT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1902. 



Variation. — The younger specimens have a more pronounced 

 median keel on the carapace; the nuchal is wider, especially in front; 

 first vertebral with longer anterior suture than the posterior and 

 straight lateral sutures; the vertebrals are wider than long, nearly as 

 wide as or, in the smallest specimen, even wider than the postals; the 

 wrinkles and ridges are also stronger. The color above is darker, 

 and some pale but obscure crossbars may be seen; two of the speci- 

 mens have the marginal and costal sutures widely edged with a broad 

 pale margin; the dusky markings on the plastron are more distinct; 

 the syrnphyseal median pale line and the two lateral throat lines do 

 not meet so as to form a fork. 



Habitat. — The present species is recorded from Jamaica, Cuba, 

 Haiti, and Porto Rico. There are indications at hand that there may 

 be some constant differences between those inhabiting the different 

 islands, but the material at nry disposal is not sufficient to warrant an 

 attempt to separate them. 



In Porto Rico the species is found apparently sparingly in streams 

 and ponds in the lowlands. 



List of specimens of Pseudemys palustris. 



Genus CARETTA" Rafinesque. 



1814. Caretta Rafinesque, Specchio d. Sci. (Palermo), II, no. 9, 1 Sett, 1814, 



p. 66 (type C. nasuta= Testudo caretta). 

 1836. Thalassochelys Fitzinger, Ann. Wien Mus., I, 1835, p. 121, (type Testudo 



caouana=T. caretta). 

 1838. Caouana Cocteau, in Sagra's Hist. Fis. Pol. Nat. Cuba, IV, Kept., p. 31 



(type Chelonia cephalo=T. caretta). 



The generic name Caretta is usually credited to Merrem, 1820, and 

 because Ritgen in 1828 limited it to C. imhricata it has often been 

 given the precedence over JSretmochelys of Fitzinger. This is a 

 mistake, however, for Rafinesque, as early as 1814, not only estab- 

 lished the generic term, but limited it to the species he called C. 

 nasuta, which is nothing but the Testudo caretta of Linnaeus, the 

 Atlantic Loggerhead. 



«The name Caret (New Latin Caretta) according to Lacepede is the one by which 

 the hawksbill turtle is generally known in the countries it inhabits. The derivation 

 from cara, face, is doubtful. Carey is Spanish for tortoise shell. 



